DeFazio, Grijalva battle for top spot on Natural Resources panel

   

Bucking tradition and battling the odds, the liberal stalwart Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is making a play for a plum House energy post.
    Grijalva, who is co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), will challenge Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) for the top Democratic spot on the Natural Resources panel if Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the current ranking member, wins his Senate bid next month.
    The winner would be the top Democratic voice on a panel that is a frequent platform for GOP attacks against White House energy and conservation policy.
    DeFazio, another liberal firebrand, is next in line behind Markey and has already secured some key endorsements. But he has also been known to ruffle feathers in Democratic circles with his high-profile criticisms of both President Obama and his own party’s leadership.
    Grijalva this week suggested DeFazio's sometimes-strained relationship with Democratic leaders will play a role in the Natural Resources race.
    "It has to do with seniority [and] it has to do with what our caucus' agenda is – how we support that – and to some extent how we support leadership," Grijalva said Thursday.
    "The third issue," he added, "is diversity."
    Of those three "essentials," as Grijalva calls them, the Arizona Democrat thinks he takes the last two.
"Peter's big point is going to be, when you talk to him, seniority. And I think it's a composite," Grijalva said Thursday. "If, indeed, seniority had been the Holy Grail of how people get to ranking and chairmanship [seats], I wouldn't be barking up the tree."
    DeFazio has a different take, arguing that the Democrats have a tradition of adhering to the seniority system in all but the most unusual cases.
    "The Democratic Caucus, unlike the Republican Caucus, generally respects seniority unless there's an issue," DeFazio said Thursday. "In this case, no one has raised an issue about my performance."
    DeFazio said he's been working for two months lobbying – successfully, he says – for support from members of the Steering and Policy Committee, which normally decides the committee positions.
    "I've for some time had [the support of] a majority of members on Steering and Policy," DeFazio said. "It is very rare that someone appeals the Steering and Policy decisions … to the [full] Caucus, but it's possible."
    Indeed, Grijalva intends to do just that.

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